Pharmacy Aides
SOC 31-9095 · 2024-2034
Record drugs delivered to the pharmacy, store incoming merchandise, and inform the supervisor of stock needs. May operate cash register and accept prescriptions for filling.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $43,269per year
- Projected openings
- 12,610
- Projected change
- +1.2%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
Skills this work uses most
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.
- Active Listening
- Service Orientation
- Speaking
- Reading Comprehension
- Social Perceptiveness
- Critical Thinking
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $75,966 | 1,270 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | $74,597 | 90 |
| Napa MSA (Napa County) | $72,155 | 30 |
| Vallejo MSA (Solano County) | $69,789 | 160 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $68,956 | 260 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $65,717 | 850 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $59,083 | 400 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $53,602 | 200 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $52,388 | 1,310 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $48,347 | 640 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $46,845 | 140 |
| Yuba City MSA (Sutter and Yuba Counties) | $45,446 | 70 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $44,089 | 410 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $43,842 | 80 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $40,952 | 290 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $40,923 | 6,400 |
| Redding MSA (Shasta County) | $40,644 | 60 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $40,109 | 1,080 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $39,800 | 80 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $39,216 | 2,050 |
| Salinas MSA (Monterey County) | $38,988 | 90 |
| Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne Counties) | $38,299 | 60 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $37,959 | 120 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $37,620 | 370 |
| Chico MSA (Butte County) | $37,445 | 80 |
| Merced MSA (Merced County) | $37,126 | 50 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $37,126 | 130 |
| El Centro MSA (Imperial County) | $35,615 | 50 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $37,158
- A quarter earn under
- $38,337
- Half earn under
- $43,269
- Three quarters earn under
- $59,285
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $73,127
A median is one point. These are the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for California, and they say how far apart the people doing this job actually are. Read them as the spread across everyone already in the work — not as a starting wage and not as a promise about where anyone lands.
Similar work
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.
| Occupation | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pharmacy Technicians | $56,653 | 41,220 | +8.2% |
| Medical Assistants | $50,918 | 175,850 | +22.7% |
| Opticians, Dispensing | $59,613 | 7,490 | +14.9% |
| Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers | $47,432 | 33,120 | +15.2% |
| Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants | $55,779 | 128,130 | +12.6% |
| Phlebotomists | $57,459 | 19,970 | +14.7% |
Programs that train for this job — 2
Pharmacy Tech
Kern High School District-Rop · Bakersfield · $1,800
Pharmacy Technician
Sanger Adult School · Sanger · $3,635